From my point of view, if you strip away all of the jargon around cloud computing, it basically means that the software you use isn’t on your own personal or work computer. It’s somewhere else. It could be anywhere. You pretty much use it through a web browser, a mobile phone, a laptop, or a tablet. Simply put, your data is stored someplace else. This is how your email works if you use Gmail, AOL, or your company mail. It’s also how your online banking works. Your banking information isn’t on your own computer. It’s stored in the “cloud,” so to speak, at your bank.
That’s pretty much how e-learning works. You might get content from SkillSoft, Books 24/7, Safari and so forth, but the data is somewhere else. Most LMS companies provide this sort of service for you. We tend to make it sound much more complicated with terms like SaaS (Software as a Service*), but that’s what cloud computing really amounts to when you strip away words like marketplace, ASP and other terms we’ve used over the years.
Is it safe? The misperception is that if you have your data stored locally, it’s safer than if you have it stored in the cloud. In fact, it’s usually easier for a motivated person to get into your home network, or to pose as a cleaning person and take your computer right off your desk. If your data is stored by reputable companies, I think it’s more secure than on your own computer these days. We used to worry about credit card transactions over the internet, and now most of us don’t worry about buying a product from Amazon, eBay or similar vendors.
What doesn’t work well in the cloud? Pretty much anything is available in the cloud, but some fairly robust applications that you use pretty frequently – like Photoshop or CAD software – might be easier to use on your desktop. But that’s not to say that you can’t get Photoshop from the cloud. It exists.
What’s the benefit to use cloud computing? Well, in my mind it makes it a lot easier to switch your LMS to a new vendor; you pretty much don’t have to worry about SCORM and all the other standards; and upgrades in software are a lot less painful.
How do you feel about cloud computing? Do you agree?
PS – In a sort of related subject, please consider taking our Web 3.0 Survey.
*SaaS and Cloud Computing are not exactly the same thing. All SaaS applications use the Cloud as a delivery mechanism, but all apps accessible through the Cloud need not be SaaS. In a way you could say one is a service while the other is a kind of transport / computing layer. ~Courtesy: Vikas Dhawan
About the author of this article
Joe DiDonato is the Editor-at-Large for the Elearning! Magazine Group. Joe's background includes senior learning positions, including CTLO, CEO and board-level assignments. Contact Information: jdidonato@2Elearning.com; (888) 201-2841 x846. To find out more about Joe, please click: Joe DiDonato's Full Biography. To follow on Twitter, please click: Twitter.com/jdidonato
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Thanks for simplifying this for me -- I hear about the Cloud all the time at work and didn't make the connection until now.
I would add one nuance that is somewhat transparent to the end user but a critical point of differentiation between SaaS and Cloud. SaaS was the forerunner to Cloud and allows the user to use applications that are stored on dedicated servers instead of their local device (e.g., laptop). Cloud has simply transferred the ownership and management of the data and application to a shared storage bank of servers which are no longer dedicated simply for your specific use of a specific application. The excitement around Cloud is not that big a deal to the average user other than the fact that a shared environment is a lot less expensive for the application provider (and presumably the user as well). The cloud is a big deal for businesses that are offering their application via the Web. The cost savings associated with Cloud is driving more applications to be offered online versus stored on your computer.
So, I appreciate the simple answer in the blog. I just think it's worth it to know the difference between SaaS and Cloud and the reason why the business community sees this as such an important innovation.
Really a nice collection is provided by you here regarding to cloud computing. I appreciated your views. Keep up great work.